HOW TO GET STRONG
arm-muscles. Hardly a day goes by when a woman's strength is not considerably taxed, and often over-taxed.
There is no calling of the unmarried woman where vigorous health and strength—not great or Herculean; but simply such as every well-built and well-developed woman ought to have—would not be of great, almost priceless value to her. The shop-girl, the factory operative, the clerk in the store, the book-keeper, the seamstress, the milliner, the telegraph-operator, are all confined for many hours a day, with exercise for but a few of the muscles; and with the trunk held altogether too long in one position; and that too often a contracted and unhealthy one. Nothing is done to render the body lithe and supple; to develop the idle muscles; to deepen the breathing and quicken the circulation—in short, to tone up the whole system. No wonder such a day's work, and such a way of living, leaves the body tired and exhausted. It would, before long, do the same for the strongest man. No wonder that the walk to and from work is a listless affair; or that she avoids it entirely and takes a car if she can. No wonder that, later on, special or general weakness develops; and the woman goes through life either weak and delicate; or with not half the strength and vigor which might readily be hers. You, a strong woman—or man either—just take, not the place of a young woman behind the counter; but a little cash-girl's place, in a department store, for one day,—where the haughty floor-walker stalks supreme;—where, if you dare to sit down, you will be ruthlessly disturbed, perhaps will lose your position—and say at night-fall—if you last till night-fall—if hers is not genuine, downright hard work;—too hard for any but a well-grown, strong, enduring person of either sex!
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